CHAPTER ONE
For what felt like an eternity, we stared at each other. Which, yes, is a cliché. But in the presence of Emily Margot, you started talking in clichés. Or poetry. Song. Or perhaps in my case - the ramblings of a madman.
I was older and I felt it. So was she. Five years. That would make her 26 to my 28 years. And yet, it felt like no time had passed at all - another cliché.
My heart launched into my throat. Emily looked beautiful - she is beautiful. And as I stood before her, every single bit of me suddenly focused all of its attention on drinking her in. My eyes ran across the sharp angles of her face, softened only by the warmth of a smile that disappeared as quickly as it came.
Her brilliant eyes, the colour of lush green foliage, pinned me in place. But the initial shock and dare I say... joy of seeing me after so long had passed, and now she looked... upset.
'Lincoln?' she said my name slowly, enunciating each syllable.
Unlike me, Emily was clearly not having poetic thoughts. One of her guides - a woman I recognised as a fellow business owner - frowned at me. I wasn't part of the tour.
'Hey, Lincoln,' Arden, who worked at The Hub's front desk, greeted me. If they picked up on the sudden drop in temperature, they didn't show it. Instead, Arden turned to Emily and gestured at the row of office spaces that filled the floor.
'Emily, this is where most of our bigger smaller businesses live. Instead of using the co-working spaces on our first or second floor, these businesses rent out one of our dedicated office spaces. They can fit up to 15 people per space. There are two kitchens on this floor, a communal dining area, a sensory room to relax during the day, and you can see through there that the balcony wraps around the level too.'
Arden cleared their throat when Emily didn't respond, causing her to suddenly comment on how nice all the plants are. To be fair, there were lots of plants in The Hub.
'Yes!' Arden chirped. 'We're huge green thumbs at The Hub - aren't we, Lincoln?'
Somehow, I found the will to string together a couple of words. Granted, they weren't great.
'Uh, huh. We sure are.'
Humiliating.
A mask had slid over Emily's features. She wasn't cold, per say, but she suddenly felt miles away.
'And what do you do here, Lincoln?' she asked, a picture of civility.
When we first met, Emily was Hollywood's next big name. Now... she practically ran it. She'd won another Oscar since our doomed relationship, and countless other awards. In other words, she could act. And she was doing it right now.
Before I could drum up a pathetic response, the lift dinged again. Out came Cameron Sun, and I could've kissed him for it. The man always looked like he'd just stepped off the set of a Korean drama, and he knew it too. Cam oozed confidence - he was the face of our business. I was more back office.
'Emily Margot, what a pleasure!' he boomed, joining me at my side. His presence alone gave me the power I needed to find my voice.
'Emily this is my business partner Cameron Sun. Cameron, this is -'
'I bloody loved you in Sweet Talk,' Cameron said, as he shook hands with Emily. His lift pass dangled from his wrist. 'And I'm so excited to hear you speak today. We both are. What a delight.'
'You're coming?' Emily asked. The words were directed at me, but Cam answered.
'Of course. Wouldn't miss it.'
Only then did the mask drop a little from Emily's eyes. She gazed at Cam curiously, and then at the door between us. 'And what do you two do?'
Cam rolled back on the balls of his feet as if he'd been waiting for this question since the second he got off the lift. And he probably had been.
'We run a business called Sunshine,' he answered, proudly. 'We're a health tech company providing telehealth care to young people.'
Emily's lips parted as she repeated our company's name. 'I -' she paused. 'Yes, I'm familiar with your work. I didn't realise you...' she trailed off, eyes finding mine.
'Lincoln hates being on our socials,' Cam said, and it was the only explanation he offered.
'I see.' The mask returned. 'How long has Sunshine been in business for?'
'We just turned three,' I answered.
'Three years,' Emily said, more to herself than us.
Silence filled the space between us, and not even Cam dared to break it. I almost sighed in relief when the lift dinged for a third time and out stepped - oh, my God.
Bobby.
It took every little bit of me not to make a stupid joke about how unreal this entire situation seemed. And while I tossed up the chances of Bobby tackling me to the ground if I tried to hug him, I missed him pulling Emily back into the lift.
'Oh, but you haven't seen the rest of the floor yet!' Arden objected, hopping into the lift too.
'After the speech, perhaps,' Bobby said, staring at me. A minuscule twitch of his lips told me everything I needed to know.
a) I'd taken Bobby McMillian by surprise
b) He didn't like not knowing.
Within 10 seconds, the floor was ours again. I fell back against the glass wall and released a breath I hadn't realised I was holding.
"So, that's the ex-girlfriend, huh?" Cam asked casually, as if he was enquiring after my lunch.
I didn't answer - there wasn't any need to.
***
As it turned out, Cam could only make it to the last five or so minutes of Emily's speech at the amphitheatre. The meeting with our stakeholder had run overtime, which I wasn't entirely mad at. Before I knew Emily was the guest speaker at The Hub's Women In Business event, I was absolutely going to sit in the front row. Post-reveal, I was running back to the lift.
The moment I reached the safety of our office, I slumped into my seat. The last two hours were starting to catch up to me, encasing my body in a cocoon of... many feelings. I felt anxious, kind of nauseous, and completely rattled.
Five years.
Of course I'd dreamed of this moment, about maybe running into her on the street or something - our eyes meeting from across a distance, or however the fuck they do it in movies these days. Not at work, not when I'm completely unprepared. Not when one look at her reduced me to a sad, little naked mole rat.
Five years.
Five.
What I would give to be Millie right now, I thought, as I glanced at her desk. Our head of content was currently in Japan, living her best life - completely ignorant of my impending meltdown.
I considered taking the rest of the day off, but that meant having to walk pass the amphitheatre and I didn't trust my legs. With my luck, I'd fall to one knee again. God, imagine that. I mindlessly shuffled some papers on my desk, picked up my pen and scribbled a doodle of a man being shat on by a bird. Drawing was something Marty suggested I do when I felt overwhelmed. Actually, he asked me to write down what I felt and read it back to myself. But I found scribbling inane stuff made me feel better... more grounded.
In this case, being shat on by a bird kind of summed up my feelings. Either I was really lucky, or the universe had just taken a dump on me.
I stared at the crude drawing, but all I could see was Emily's eyes. Her face. Her dark hair. She styled it differently now - like something from the '90s. Bouncy... layers.
Bouncy layers.
This is why I drew.
What would Marty do in this situation? I'd have to ask him. Maybe. I stopped seeing him two years ago when Sunshine took over my life.
Ding.
My eyes shot to the lift as the doors slid open once more, and Arden stepped out followed by Emily, Bobby, and Cam.
The universe was definitely taking a dump on me.
'Lincoln!' Cam greeted, poking his head through our door. 'Get out here, Emily wants a tour of the floor.'
I scrambled for the pen, willing my brain to come up with some sort of excuse to avoid being in the same vicinity as my kryptonite. But Cam didn't give me a chance to escape. He was already telling Emily about Sunshine, and how I would happily explain my side of the business to her.
Zoom, I wanted to say. That's how I talked to patients. That's all I cared about. Cam was the one who had invested his inheritance into the business, the one who had put his marketing degree to good use and put Sunshine in as many headlines as he could.
Emily was being guided in the direction of the sensory room, and nodded along to both Arden and Cam as they showered her with praise and pointed out all the fun things on our level. She didn't even seem to mind that they were trying promote the hell out of their respective businesses. She was probably used to it by now.
I hovered by the door to our office and felt my ass cheeks clench when Bobby broke away from the group. Apart from the beard he was growing, nothing had really changed about the man I used to relentlessly tease for being as cold as the Arctic.
I sucked a breath through my teeth as he approached, steely eyes assessing my every move. It felt a lot like the first night we met, when he was trying to figure out if I was fake or not. I could almost see the questions in his eyes.
What was I doing?
What did I want with Emily?
But just like that first night, I had no answers. I had no idea this was going to happen. Again.
When he was only a foot away, Bobby held out his hand. 'Lincoln,' he greeted stiffly. His voice was still as rough as sandpaper. 'It's been a while.'
I stared at his outstretched hand and almost laughed.
'Really? No hug?' The words slipped out before I could stop them. I couldn't help it. The man brought out the worst in me.
Bobby's lips twitched again, as if he was about to smile. And for a moment there, I thought he was. Instead, he pulled his lips into a tight line and cleared his throat. His hand remained fixed in the air.
I reluctantly took it and felt the firm handshake of a man that used to equally terrify and humour me.
'Long time no see, Bobbykins.'
Why couldn't I be this charming around Emily?
Bobby ignored this. 'I didn't know you were back, and I make it my business to know these things.'
I resisted the urge to point out how creepy it was to say something like that. Instead, I pulling my hand from his and folded my arms across my chest. 'To be fair, I didn't think I'd be lucky enough to see her again.'
It was the truth, and Bobby knew it. Lightning wasn't supposed to strike the same spot twice. Oh look, another cliché.
Bobby heaved a sigh that made me think he was about to scold me for daring to work in a building that Emily coincidently rocked up to. And that was something he would do.
'You should've told me,' he said quietly. 'You should've told her.'
I bit the inside of my mouth - hard.
I know, I wanted to say.
Instead, I stepped away, effectively ending our conversation. We remained silent until the trio returned to the lift. I risked meeting Emily's eyes and regretted it immediately. She wasn't looking at me, she was sharing a look with Bobby.
That can't be good.
Arden knuckled the down button. 'We're so honoured you visited us today.' Emily smiled at them, insisting that it was the least she could do. And then she turned to Cam and thanked him for his time.
'All the best with Sunshine,' she farewelled. 'It sounds like a really impressive and necessary service.'
'Let us walk you out,' Cam said after thanking her, or insisted really. 'Lincoln can tell you about what kind of patients we work with... if he gets over his sudden bout of shyness.'
I wanted to pummel him.
Emily finally looked at me then, the cool mask of civility still perfectly in place. 'Sure,' she replied. 'I'd love to hear about it.'
And right on cue, the lift arrived.
'After you,' Cam murmured, pushing me in front of him.
I really wanted to pummel him. And I was about to tell him as much when he exclaimed, 'Oh wait, I need to make a call. Please head down without me - Emily it was so lovely -'
The doors slid shut, cutting him off.
That absolute twat.
But the fiery anger was doused by my sudden awareness of how close I stood to Emily. The smell of her perfume made me bite my lip - sweet, comforting, home. I hooked my fingers behind my back to stop myself from touching her.
What was wrong with me?
I felt like a schoolboy again.
And of course the interior of the lift was mirrored, making it close to impossible to not see her. She was literally everywhere.
Despite Cam's insistence that I talk to Emily about Sunshine, I struggled to speak about anything but the weather. It was a safe subject. Brits love talking about the weather and apparently so did I. Even so, the tension was thick - pulsing. It was as if the air was crackling with electricity. Or maybe I was just imagining it because Arden was smiling at us like this was the most enjoyable lift ride in history.
I squeezed my fingers together.
I could hear Emily breathing, see her fidgeting. Maybe she could feel it too.
I looked up at the doors, willing this stupid metal box to move faster, when I met Emily's eyes in the reflection. My entire body went rigid. She watched me with those spell-binding eyes and within a split second, I was a goner. I felt myself inch towards her in pure attraction. I couldn't describe it. She, meanwhile, remained still. But her eyes never left mine as she continued to study me, lips slightly parted.
God, I wanted to kiss -
The doors stretched open with a ding, freeing me. I stepped away with a nearly inaudible gasp then exited the lift so quickly I almost stumbled over Arden.
Word had spread that Emily Margot was at The Hub and now a crowd had formed by its entrance. 'Well,' Emily said, matter-of-factly, 'it was lovely meeting you.' She directed this at Arden, who she thanked for the tour.
And then she turned to me. 'Lincoln,' she said, and held out her hand.
I stared at it for a second too long that Emily started to withdraw, but before she could I took her hand in mine and squeezed.
Every hair on my body rose as if in response to her touch, like my body had finally risen from its five-year slumber.
'Emily.' It came out so quietly it almost counted as a whisper. 'Look, I -'
'Emily!'
We both turned to see a man coming our way, beaming with a smile that rivalled Cam's. Tall, blonde, blue-eyed - I pulled my hand away. The surge of life that had suddenly pulsed through me fizzled.
The man, wearing a visitor's pass around his neck, came to Emily's side and embraced her affectionately. 'I heard it was a great speech! I'm sorry to have missed it, but I was caught up in an interview upstairs.'
'Oh, that's so fine,' she replied warmly.
It was only then that the man noticed me and immediately cocked his head to the side. 'You're Lincoln Parker, aren't you?' he asked. It sounded more like an accusation.
I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, wondering if I should be polite or call security on him. 'That's me,' I answered.
'Henry Copeland.' He held out his hand. 'I'm a reporter at The Herald - I interviewed your partner Cam once for a start-up feature. Great work, by the way. I'd hope you'd be in our interview.'
I managed to smile. 'Cam has media training, whereas I tend to ramble.' We shook hands once, before retreating to our respective corners. 'Well I better head back up. It was nice to meet you, Henry, and thank you for your support on Sunshine. I remember your article, it was very flattering.'
And in truth it was. Only now I wished it was written by anybody else because Cam had it framed and hung on our wall in the office. It was our first feature, almost six months into the launch of our business. I shifted my gaze to Emily and hooked my fingers behind my back again. 'I hope you've been well.'
I HOPE YOU'VE BEEN WELL.
I was speaking 'email' to the great love of my life.
Before I punched myself in the chin, I turned on my heel and walked as calmly as I could back to the lift. Every step expanded a sudden hole in my chest.
'Wait!' Henry's voice boomed.
With a lick of my lips, I turned and forced a smile. 'Yes?'
He'd taken a few steps away from Emily to close the gap between us, a twinkle in his blue eyes.
'Would you like to join us for dinner? I'm eager to know how you've found business since the last time I spoke to Cam.'
I'd rather shit in my hands and clap.
But before I could phrase this a little more politely, a firm hand gripped my shoulder. 'He'd be delighted to, 'Bobby said, and only tightened his fingers when I tried to move. 'There's lots to discuss.'
I met Bobby's eyes and saw the threat clearly written in them. I owed Emily an explanation, they said - it's the least I could do. The bare minimum.
'Sure,' I finally answered. 'I'll meet you at Louisa's in 20 minutes. It's just down the street, to your left.'
Bobby's grip loosened as we heard the lift doors open behind us. Someone was getting out, which was my cue to leave.
Dinner with Emily... and her probably-boyfriend.
Shit.
A/N
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